A Friend in Need
by wbss21
Summary: At seventeen years of age, Loki Odinson is committed to a New York State Sanatorium, located centrally in East Side Brooklyn. At seventeen, Loki Odinson is declared, legally, mentally insane.
1. Chapter 1

**A Friend in Need**

**Chapter 1:**

At seventeen years of age, Loki Odinson is committed to a New York State Sanatorium, located centrally in East Side Brooklyn.

At seventeen, Loki Odinson is declared, legally, mentally insane.

/

Loki Odinson sits in the chair across from his own, and stares out the ajar window.

He is silent, one arm held protectively across his stomach, his other's elbow rested against the chairs arm, a cigarette burned near down to its filter dangling between two, long, thin fingers. Bruce worries that he is going to burn himself, and knows he's going to have to take the cigarette away soon. There are already scabs and blisters along the tips of the boy's fingers from where he has done so previously.

Wisps of smoke carry out the window on the breeze, and Loki looks ragged.

Dr. Banner watches him intently.

Loki has been here at St. Agatha's for nearly two weeks, and in that time, Bruce has yet to hear him speak a single word.

His raven black hair is chopped short, near to the scalp, though when he came in, the doctor knows it was well past his shoulders in length, knotted and scraggily and unkempt.

The boy is no more than a wisp of a thing, Bruce thinks as he watches him. They've been weighing him every day since he arrived, monitoring his BMI.

He is severely underweight, and he will not eat. Every time the nurses have attempted to force him, he has suffered extreme episodes, and sometimes, they aren't able to get him to stop screaming and thrashing until the orderlies can force him down and inject a sedative into him. They stick an IV into his arm then, and pray for the best.

The boy's clothes hang off him in sheets, and beneath the dip of his shirt's collar, Bruce can see his ribcage pressed against his pale skin prominently. His arms hang from the short sleeves like sticks, his face is gaunt with cheekbones like razor blades, and the column of his throat too clearly visible.

It hurts to look at him.

Dr. Banner's eyes cast away, down to the open file sat across his desk, reading the same lines he's read a dozen times previous.

Paranoid Schizophrenia.

That's the diagnosis given to the boy by his former doctors back in England.

Dr. Bruce Banner is the leading mind in the world in the study of paranoid schizophrenia, and because Loki's family is wealthy, they moved to the States from London and had him committed here.

Bruce has met them, briefly. A father, Odin, quite possibly the most intimidating man the doctor has ever had the pleasure of speaking to. A mother, Frigga, with a kind disposition to counter the stern cold of her husband. And an older and younger brother, Thor, a massive giant of a man, aged twenty-two, and Balder, fifteen years of age, and already bigger and taller than Loki, though a good two or three inches shorter than Thor.

It hadn't escaped the doctor's notice how thoroughly unlike Loki all of them looked, with the men sporting broad, handsome features, and all of them with golden blonde hair, save Odin, whose hair was a shock of white, matching his thick beard, and all of them with sun-kissed skin.

It didn't surprise Bruce then, to find out Loki was indeed adopted, taken in when he was only an infant, after having been found by the authorities, abandoned on the streets of London in the dead of one of the worst winters on record there. The child had nearly died, according to his files, had already fallen into a state of hypothermia, and it had been weeks before anyone knew if he would make it or not.

That he did was more of a surprise than if he had succumbed to his condition, frail and undersized as he supposedly had been.

Moving down the file, Bruce continues to again read what he's gone over before.

Loki, apparently, is very, very smart.

There is a list of results in his file, gathered from a slew of intelligence equivalency tests given to him periodically over the last ten years. On all of them, the boy has scored well off the charts.

The file notes that it wasn't long after his exceptional intelligence began to be noticed by the adults around him, that his mental health issues began also to surface.

It notes further that Loki has been in and out of various mental institutions for the past six years of his life.

It says he likes art. He likes to paint and draw, and he likes to write. It notes he has filled dozens upon dozens of journals with his writing, and there are a number of folders that were brought along with him containing his numerous sketches and drawings and paintings.

Bruce hasn't had a chance to look at any of it.

He hopes today he might get permission from Loki to do so, though it isn't looking particularly promising at the moment.

The doctor sighs, finally closing the file and looking back up at his new patient.

"So, Loki…" he begins, keeping his voice gentle and calm.

Loki doesn't move. Gives no indication of even hearing him. He just keeps staring out the window, silent. His fingers twitch minutely around his cigarette, and Bruce leans forward across the desk, plucking the thing away.

Loki turns to him then, a flash of anger crossing over his delicate features, light green eyes burning dangerously.

Someone so waifish shouldn't be able to look so imposing, but there it is.

Bruce smiles at him, grinding the cigarette out in an ashtray.

"How are you feeling today?" He asks.

Loki glares at him a long moment more, fingers still twitching, around empty space now, before abruptly, he folds his upheld hand against his chest, thin fingers curling into the loose material of his shirt, and he turns away, staring back out the window.

He looks tragically young, and, Bruce supposes, he is.

He isn't even legally old enough to be smoking, but he'd thrown such a fit the first day, when they'd tried to keep his pack of cigarettes from him, that they'd just given up and allowed him that one concession.

He holds himself like he's trying to hide.

"Have you managed to make any friends yet?" Bruce tries.

There are several other patients on Loki's ward, though most of them are older than he is, and the doctor knows the boy tends to keep largely to himself.

There's only been one incident between him and another patient, a week ago. Clint Barton, who's been here at St. Agatha's for about three years now, had tried talking to Loki, and when Loki hadn't responded, Clint had become a little aggressive, as he tended to, and a scene had broken out.

That was putting it mildly, but it was important to only use certain types of terminology around the patients, Bruce knew.

Clint had ended up beating Loki up a little, slapping him around pretty good until the orderlies and nurses had been able to pull him off. He hadn't really hurt Loki all that much, thank God, but Loki had been crying anyway, and it had taken hours to get him to really calm down.

Nurse Rogers, that's who the report had listed as the one who'd finally gotten Loki to settle, who'd eased him back down from panic and terror.

Bruce thinks he's going to have to speak with Rogers about it, just to get a clearer picture on exactly what happened, and hopefully, it will help him in his treatment of Loki as well, if he's lucky.

Loki gives no reply to his question about friends, which doesn't surprise the doctor. He just keeps staring out the window, his hands now clasped too tightly together in his lap. Bruce watches him a long moment, noting how anxious and even nervous the boy is.

He's going to have to be gentle with him.

"Is there anything you'd like to talk about Loki?" He tries instead, giving the control over to the boy, hoping for the best.

Loki doesn't even glance at him, his hands only winding tighter about each other, before abruptly, they come apart and he digs his fingers into the loose material of his pants. Tension thrums visibly through his skin and bones frame.

Bruce sighs quietly to himself, folding his own hands together along the desk.

"Would you like to go back to your room now Loki?" He asks softly.

Loki's arms come up around himself, folding in and fingers digging what looks painfully into the scarce flesh of his limbs. He nods jerkily, looking down to the floor, and Bruce nods back.

"Okay." He says. "That's okay."

/

Loki, Steve Rogers thinks, is an incredibly good looking kid. Beautiful, really, but not feminine. His features are sharp, fine and delicate, his body all smooth, long lines, even with how awfully thin he is, with porcelain pale skin and eyes brighter and more expressive and more intelligent than any Steve thinks he's ever seen.

It makes him wonder, and makes his heart ache then, that someone that incredible looking could be so messed up. Natures way, he guesses, of equaling the balance between people. That's how it seems sometimes, but it still feels unfair to him.

If Loki were well in the head, Steve's sure he would have girls all over him. He's that good looking.

Only, looking at him now, hunched in on himself, arms wrapped tight and protectively around his bare torso, Steve has the distinct impression Loki's probably never even kissed anyone, or had anyone kiss him. Never experienced any kind of romantic relationship or intimate contact. He's painfully shy, trying to hide himself away as he sits there on the exam table, his face turned down, and Steve doesn't think he's once actually looked directly at him.

At least he's able to sit still for him. Any of the other nurses trying to get near the kid has only resulted in Loki throwing a fit and writhing violently in his attempts to get away from their touch.

Steve doesn't know what it is about himself that makes Loki more calm, but he isn't about to question it.

He wants to help the boy.

Right now, that entails disinfecting and patching up a gash running along the kid's spine, something he got from one of the other patients ramming him into the knob of a door a little while earlier.

It seems Loki has a tendency to somehow spook some of the other, more volatile residents here. Steve's not sure why, since Loki is about the quietest, most withdrawn mental patient he's ever dealt with. Maybe it's because of that that he unsettles some of the others. They're used to screaming and hollering from each other. Loki just sits there and doesn't say anything.

Steve wishes they would leave the kid alone though. Looking at him, Loki doesn't seem like he can defend himself too well, and seeing him get beat up, even if just a little, is heartbreaking.

Especially since it makes Loki cry. He doesn't wail or sob or anything. The tears just run fast and thick down his face, and he doesn't make a sound. Last week, when Barton smacked him around, no one even knew it was happening until the other patients started making a racket over it, since Loki himself didn't cry out at all.

But no one could get the kid to stop crying until a long while after they pulled Clint off him either, until Steve was finally able to step in and calm him down. It'd been scary for a while, with the way Loki's breath was coming so short and erratic and the tears just kept running down his cheeks.

"Alright," Steve starts, unwrapping one of the disinfectant wipes from its package and moving cautiously towards his patient. "I'm just gonna get this cut cleaned and patched up for you Loki, and then you can go back to the dayroom. How's that sound?"

Loki doesn't answer him, though Steve doesn't expect him to. He's only heard the kid talk a handful of times, and never more than a word or two at a time.

And so he simply goes about his work, being delicate as he cleans the wound. Loki still flinches at the contact of the cool wipe against his skin, and Steve mutters a quiet apology. But Loki seems to settle after that, and Steve finishes the task quickly, covering the wound up with a waterproof bandage, smoothing out its edges to make sure it's securely on before stepping back and nodding.

"Alright kiddo, you can put your shirt back on now."

Loki glances at him briefly, eyes nervous and unsure.

"You want me to turn around?" Steve asks, picking up on what the problem is pretty fast.

Loki gives a single, jerky nod, and Steve smiles, nodding back.

"Alright." He says. "You just tell me when you're ready."

And he turns his back to Loki, waiting patiently.

There's the sound of some rustling as Loki shifts about on the paper covering the exam bed, and it's taking longer for him to get his shirt on than it would for any normal person, considering it's just a singlet. But Loki's not okay. Steve knows that. None of the patients here are, really. That's why they're here.

Finally, he hears Loki speak, voice low and rough and upper class. It's strange.

"Alright." Is all he says, and when Steve turns back around, Loki is sitting again with his arms crossed over his chest, hunched down, short sleeved shirt in place.

Steve smiles at him again.

"Alright." He says. "You can walk okay?"

Another, jerky nod from the boy.

"Then follow me." The nurse replies, turning on his heel. He hears Loki sliding off the exam table, his slippers flapping softly against the rubber flooring as he follows Steve out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Every Saturday, someone from Loki's family comes to visit.

This week, it's his two brothers, Thor and Balder.

It's the first time Steve's meeting either of them, ever since he's been put on regular watch duty with Loki, and immediately upon greeting the two at the entrance to the dayroom, the nurse understands about Loki being adopted.

His young patient couldn't look more different from the two brothers.

Thor is incredibly friendly, and Balder seems nice enough. The two of them are _big_. Another marked difference between them and Loki. Loki's tall, taller than Steve, but he's thin as a rail and looks like he'd get knocked straight over from a stiff breeze. Steve's finding it hard to believe Balder's only fifteen, given his build. And Thor just looks like he could bench press a semi.

"He's right in here fella's." Steve says to them with a smile, turning to lead them into the dayroom.

He hears Balder whispering to Thor about getting the heebie jeebies from the place, and Thor hushing him quietly.

"Just over there." Steve points towards the far end of the room, near the closed window on the right hand side. Loki's sitting there in front of it in a straight backed chair, staring out at the back yard of the hospital. He's alone.

"There's chairs all over the place." Steve informs the brothers. "You can just grab a couple and have a seat with him if you like."

Thor thanks him and gives a light smack along his younger brother's shoulder, indicating for him to follow.

Steve watches them head towards Loki for a brief, few seconds, making sure everything's fine.

He sees Loki start slightly when Thor puts a hand on his shoulder, noticeably more gently than he'd slapped Balder.

When Loki looks up to see his older brother, that's when Steve turns away, wanting to give them their privacy.

/

"Hey Loki." Thor says softly, smiling down at him, and for an instant, Loki's eyes go slightly wide, followed by a look of such naked relief, it nearly breaks Thor's heart.

"Thor…" he breaths, and a moment later, he's starting to stand.

Thor doesn't even let him get fully up out of the chair before he's enveloping the smaller boy in a hug, pulling him against his chest and resting his chin atop his dark hair.

Thor hates the way he can feel just how _little _of Loki there is. He's painfully, worryingly thin. Their parents and the doctors here have told him he's still struggling with eating, but that they're doing their best to get his weight up.

It isn't good enough for Thor though.

He's so worried about his little brother.

Loki trembles slightly in his arms, thin, long hands coming up and burying in the material of Thor's t-shirt. Thor shushes him slightly, cupping the back of Loki's head in his palm, holding his face to his shoulder.

"It's okay." He says. "Hey, it's okay."

Loki doesn't say anything, just keeps holding him back.

Thor glances briefly at Balder, who looks intensely uncomfortable. His arms are crossed over his chest, and he keeps looking away from his two older brothers, like he can't take the sight of what's happening.

Thor can't totally blame him.

It's been really hard, and Balder's just a kid. He can't be expected to handle any of this well.

Eventually, Thor loosens his grip on Loki, letting him go. He keeps his hands on his little brothers shoulders, smiling down at him as he steps back.

Loki looks awful.

He looks frail.

But Thor doesn't allow his worry to come into his features.

"Balder's here too." He says happily, nodding over his shoulder, and Loki's eyes shift from him to his younger brother.

"Hey Lok's." Balder says, smiling weakly at him.

Loki doesn't say anything as he steps around Thor and moves towards Balder, putting his arms around the other boy without warning, hugging him as tightly as he'd held on to Thor.

Thor sees Balder stiffen slightly, his expression tight. He hesitates a moment before his own arms lift, wrapping loosely round Loki's bony frame.

Things between his two younger siblings have always been… tense, Thor knows.

Loki's mental problems had really started taking shape when Balder had only been about five, and the younger boy had never really understood what any of it meant. For a long time, all he'd really known was that one of his older brother's, the one who had been so much closer in age to him, and so a more constant companion than Thor, had no longer been able to be that for him. Loki's condition had gradually worsened over the years, until it seemed he was spending more time inside of hospitals than out, and Balder had grown to resent that, and resent Loki's being sick at all. All of the attention placed on Loki for it hadn't helped either.

Thor can remember having arguments with Balder, some not so long ago, Balder asking him and their parents angrily why Loki couldn't just "get over it", insisting that Loki should be better by now, even going so far as to accuse Loki of faking it in order to garner attention for himself.

Their Mother had actually slapped Balder across the face when he'd done that, and proceeded to explain to him that he had better never say anything like that around Loki, ever.

Thor had only been able to agree.

Loki wasn't faking anything.

Balder couldn't be expected to understand. He'd been kept shielded from most of Loki's more severe episodes, though he'd been there for a few scary moments.

Only, the truth was, Loki was suffering. He'd been suffering for years, and no matter how many doctors they went to, and new medications they tried, nothing seemed able to rescue Loki from the nightmare that was his own, treacherous mind.

Thor thinks, if Balder were a little older and more mature, and he understood just what it was Loki went through every day, he would be a little kinder to his older brother.

Eventually, Loki loosens his grip, and as he steps away from Balder, his face turned down, and he stands there awkwardly a moment, like he isn't sure what to do.

Loki knows Balder has issues with him. That Thor knows too. Loki is too smart not to, and he's always read people as easily as one could read a book. Loki knows, but he loves Balder as much as he ever has, and he makes the effort every time.

It hurts Thor to see it.

He wishes desperately things could be different.

He's wished it for so long now.

Abruptly, Loki seems to animate, his eyes going wider.

"Oh, I just remembered!" He exclaims suddenly, and both Thor and Balder watch as he turns from them, bending down beside his chair, where one of his art portfolio's rests.

Loki seems to be having a good day today. He's clear and coherent so far, and that makes Thor happy.

Loki's had fewer and fewer good days over the last few years.

There's a few moments of Loki shifting through the contents of the folder, before finally he pulls two separate pieces from it and stands, turning back to them.

"I did these for you." He holds them out, one to each of them.

Thor is the first to take his, and he smiles down at it, the image of two boys playing in an open field. It's beautifully rendered, and again, Thor finds himself in true admiration of his brother's talent.

"It's beautiful Loki." He says, looking up to him. "Thank you so much. I'm going to have it framed and hung on my bedroom wall."

Loki looks away shyly, shrugging.

"It isn't that good." He mutters, but Thor can see the very vague smile which plays along his lips, and he knows it means the world to his little brother to hear his work is liked.

Loki's wanted to be an artist since he was a little kid.

Balder finally takes his, staring down at it, also an image of two boys, these ones embracing.

Thor doesn't miss the struggle along the younger boy's features not to sneer, and so he knows Loki doesn't miss it either.

There's a forced smile pulled up along Balder's lips a moment later as he raises his eyes to Loki.

"… Thanks Lok's." He says tightly, and Loki only gives a single, jerky nod, staring away. His arms come up around himself protectively, and Thor wants powerfully to scold Balder.

He knows his youngest sibling is at that age where things like what Loki's drawing depicts aren't considered "cool", but damn it, the kid could try a little harder.

"Why don't we sit down Loki?" Thor asks instead, trying to keep things positive.

"Okay." Loki says quietly, still looking at the floor.

Thor makes sure Loki has his own seat and is securely down before taking his own. Balder handles himself fine.

A few, strained moments of silence pass, Loki staring out the window again.

Thor sees Balder roll his eyes from the periphery of his own vision, huffing silently as he turns his own attention towards observing the dayroom.

Thor keeps his own on Loki.

"So how do you like it here brother?" Thor asks him gently.

A long, few seconds pass without reply, and Thor fears for an instant that Loki's retreated back into himself again. On days like that, you're lucky if you can get him to say one word.

But then Loki shifts, moving his eyes from the window and back to Thor.

"I want to go back to Asgard Thor." He says.

"Oh for… here we go." Balder mutters at his side.

Thor ignores him.

"I don't like it here Thor." Loki goes on, apparently either not hearing or ignoring Balder too. "I don't like it. Everyone hates me. And they're always watching me. Always saying things about me. I want to go back to Asgard."

"You _can't_ go back to Asgard Loki." Balder suddenly cuts in, not even trying to hide the contempt from his voice now. "You burnt it down, _remember_? You'd think you'd remember something like that, since you're supposed to be so much smarter than the rest of us."

"Balder, _be quiet_." Thor nearly growls, his own voice thick with warning.

Loki stares confusedly at Balder for a moment, like he doesn't understand. Thor knows, for a moment, that Loki _doesn't_. He doesn't remember.

And then Loki blinks, looking away, his arms coming up and wrapping round himself. He doesn't say anything.

Asgard was their farm, back when they still lived in England. A sprawling, 200 acre property where they had kept their main home.

What had happened hadn't been Loki's fault, and Thor is going to have to have words with Balder once they leave here today. He feels his anger already mounting. It's only for Loki's sake he keeps a lid on it.

More than anything, it had been their parent's fault, for leaving Loki alone with Balder that day. The both of them worked, had careers, and they hadn't been able to find anyone to watch their two youngest.

Loki had been twelve at the time, Balder ten. Thor had already gone off to college, and that was the problem. It was usually him who kept on an eye on Loki for them.

Loki had had an episode that day. He'd thought they were being attacked by some sort of monsters, and in his panic and fear, he'd found a book of matches and tried using them as a weapon to stave them off. He'd been throwing lit matches onto the living room floor, seeing something that wasn't there. The curtains had caught, and the fire had, from there, spread quickly.

Thor knows Balder's anger doesn't just come from the fact they lost their home, but because Loki had nearly died that day rescuing him from the burning house.

It had all been caught on their home security feed.

When Loki had seen what was happening, that the house was being engulfed in flames, he'd gone running upstairs to find his younger brother, who'd been up in his room, listening to music on his headphones, completely oblivious to what was going on downstairs.

Loki had grabbed hold of him, ignoring Balder's annoyed protests, lifting him up and carrying him down through the house, already thick with smoke and fire spreading rapidly through each downstairs room.

The front door by then had already been blocked by part of the roof caving in, and so Loki had thrown a bookend through a window and shoved Balder through it, screaming at him to go and run.

Balder had been crying violently at that point, and tried begging Loki to follow, but Loki had shaken his head and run back farther into the house, even as it had been coming down around him. The security cameras hadn't picked it up, but Balder would later tell them that Loki had said he had to go rescue his pets.

Loki had called them his friends.

They had been his only friends, really.

Fenrir, his little dog, and Jormugandr, a little garner snake he kept in a large, glass tank.

Neither of them had made it. Loki had ended up collapsing from the smoke. Balder had, thank God, called emergency using his cell phone, and by the time they'd arrived and gotten Loki out, he'd barely even been breathing.

Sometimes Loki doesn't remember his pets are gone, like he doesn't remember Asgard is too, and he asks after them, wants to know where they are, if they're doing alright.

Slowly, Thor reaches out, placing a hand gently along Loki's knee. He can feel the barely visible tremor working through his little brother's frame.

"Loki," he starts softly. "we don't have Asgard anymore. Remember? We live in the States now. Yes?"

Loki keeps his arms around himself, his head bowing farther. He doesn't say anything.

"You know what," Balder says, standing abruptly from his chair. "I can't deal with this right now. You handle it Thor, I'm going home."

"Balder!" Thor calls to him, indignant at his youngest brother's behavior.

But Balder is already walking away, waving dismissively over his shoulder as he exits the dayroom.

As Thor watches him leave, he catches sight of Loki's drawing, left, forgotten, along the floor beside the now empty chair.

When at last he turns back to Loki, his little brother is looking out the window again, silent and distant and gone.

/

**AN: As always, a huge thank you to all my readers and reviewers! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and let me know your thoughts!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

He's in this room again. The one with a lot of windows and bright light coming in through them, making the floor look like it's glowing.

There's a lot of people in this room. Too many people, and it makes him nervous. It makes him want to run away. But he knows what happens when he tries that. He knows he wouldn't get very far before they caught him, and then he'd be put into that awful jacket again and locked in a smaller room, and they wouldn't let him out for a long, long time, no matter how much he begged and promised to be good.

He misses Thor. And he misses Mom. And he even misses Baldr. Father hasn't come to visit yet, and Loki can't remember why, but he knows for some reason that Father doesn't really like him anymore, and he doesn't really ever come around. It makes him sad, but he doesn't talk about that to anyone. They would use it against him if he did, he knows. They think he's stupid and doesn't know. But he does.

He tries to remember how many days it's been since anyone's come to see him, and he can't really. It was Mom who came by last time, and she'd been crying, and Loki had told her not to, that he was alright, really, he was. But that only seemed to make her cry harder, and then Loki had started crying, and everything after that is sort of gone. He doesn't remember.

There's something crawling all over him today. He keeps itching his skin, trying to make it go away, but it won't, and he knows if he keeps scratching himself like this, he's going to make blood come, and he knows that's bad. That they're watching him. Nurse Rogers is watching him right now. Loki can feel his eyes on him. And he knows they'll put him in that jacket and put him in a small room if he keeps itching his skin, and so he tries not to. But it's hard.

So he shoves his hands under his armpits and squeezes, and tries to look at the pretty trees outside the window he's sitting by, and tries not to think about how much he wants to itch his skin, and how much he misses Mom and Thor and Baldr.

"Hey." Someone says behind him, and Loki is suddenly very scared, and he turns around and sees a man standing over him, and Loki wants to run away. He wants to run far, far away.

The man smiles, and Loki's seen him before. He's one of the other patients here. He's here all the time, talking to the other guys. He's very talkative, and all the other guys seem to like him.

"I'm Tony." He says, and he's reaching his hand out to Loki, like he wants Loki to take it.

Loki only stares at it a moment, his eyes flicking back up to the man's face, wary and distrustful.

If the man notices, he doesn't say anything, just keeps smiling, and then abruptly he reaches down and grabs hold of Loki's hand, shaking it vigorously.

Sickening terror rips through Loki's insides, and he tears his hand away, holding it tight against his chest and shoving back from the man hurriedly, keeping his eyes, wide and vibrating, locked on him.

"Whoa, hey there." The man says, holding his hands up now, as though in surrender. "Calm down kiddo. I was just tryin' to be nice."

Loki says nothing, holding his hands tighter against himself, and he wants Thor, he wants Thor now, now, now, right now!

The man just keeps staring at him, like he's looking at a particularly interesting insect. And then he shrugs.

"You don't have to be afraid of me kid. I'm Tony Stark." He says. "Everyone knows me. Hey, you wanna know something cool? I'm a hero. Like, a real, genuine hero. You heard of Iron Man? Well, that's me. So you don't have to be scared. I protect people. Especially kids. And you're just a kid. How old are you anyway? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

Still, Loki says nothing, and he's starting to shake now. He's so scared, and he wants Thor. He wants his big brother. He wants…

"Hey, hey, hey, Tony…"

Suddenly Nurse Rogers is there, and he's taking the man by the arm, gently, pulling him away from Loki.

"Hey buddy, what did I tell you about walking up to other patients and bothering them Tony?" He asks, looking sternly at the man.

The man just grins back at him and shrugs.

"Dunno." He says. "But the kid looked lonely, sitting over here all by himself, and I thought, hey, he could use a friend. And what better friend than Iron Man?"

Nurse Rogers smiles tightly at him, nodding.

"That's great Tony. But remember I told you, you can't just touch people without their permission. Look how much you scared him Tony. Remember how I told you you gotta watch out for people's reactions?"

The man stares at Nurse Rogers a long moment, before his eyes slide back to Loki, watching him, and Loki looks away, fixing his eyes to the floor, and he's shaking bad now. He's shaking really bad.

"See Tony?" Nurse Rogers asks gently. "That's not okay, is it?"

The man looks back to him, and he shrugs again.

"I guess not." He says flatly.

"Why don't you go over and talk to Clint Tony?" Rogers asks, still smiling. "And I'll make sure Loki's okay. Alright?"

Another shrug from the man, and then he's wandering off in the other direction.

Nurse Rogers turns to Loki, bending down until he's level with him.

Loki still keeps his gaze fixed on the floor, his arms wrapped tight about himself now.

"Hey son, you alright?" The nurse asks softly.

Loki doesn't respond, his only reaction his arms wrapping tighter about his torso, and Steve frowns slightly, heart sinking.

"Hey, Loki…" he reaches out a hand a little ways, stopping short of touching the boy. "listen, Tony's harmless. He was just trying to be friendly, but you know, he can have issues with things like personal space. But he's a patient here, just like you."

At that, Loki shakes his head, still keeping his gaze locked to the floor.

Steve sighs softly.

"Look, can I do anything for you?"

There's a long moment of silence, and Steve thinks then Loki isn't going to answer.

But then his voice comes, barely more than a whisper and slightly hoarse from disuse.

"I want Thor…" he says.

Steve feels his chest tighten, his fingers curling against his palm, lips stretching into a tight line.

He hesitates a moment before he speaks.

"Visiting day's not 'till tomorrow Loki." He says gently. "But I'm sure your brother will come then."

Loki doesn't say anything to that, but his eyes are abruptly filled with thick tears, and they slip quickly, silently down his thin face.

"Ohh, hey, hey, hey…" Steve starts, reaching out slowly. He doesn't even think about it as he swipes his fingers delicately across the boy's cheeks, wiping the tears away. "Hey, it's okay. Don't cry Loki. Your family'll come tomorrow. They always do."

Only the tears won't stop coming, and so Steve does the only thing he can think to, wrapping his arms about the boy and pulling him into a tight hug.

Loki doesn't hug back, but he doesn't pull away either, and Steve can feel him trembling.

Steve holds onto him for a while then, until he feels Loki beginning to calm a little, and then he pulls back, looking down at the boy and smiling reassuringly.

"Say, how about we go back to your room for now, huh? You can take a nap, and then you'll feel better. I promise."

Loki only looks back at him, eyes still tear filled and red rimmed, and Steve puts an arm around his thin shoulders, taking hold of his hand and lifting him to his feet.

"Come on." He says.

And Loki gives no protest as he's lead away from the window, and out of the dayroom, back to his own.

/

**AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter guys! Please let me know what you thought. For anyone wondering about my other stories, my computer busted on me, and so I haven't been able to work on them, but I'm getting it fixed tomorrow and will hopefully have new chapters up for my other works soon! **


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